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The Subconscious Mind: Definition
To be straightforward. There is no precise definition of the subconscious mind.
The Cambridge dictionary, for example, defines the subconscious as
“the part of your mind that notices and remembers information when you are not actively trying to do so, and influences your behaviour even though you do not realize it.”
But this hardly covers even the tip of what the subconscious is. More so, many people use the word “subconscious” when they mean “unconscious” and vice versa.
However, I don’t want to stray from the main topic. So, a discussion about the differences between those two will perhaps happen another time.
In general, the subconscious mind is that part of your mind that is not in current awareness. But there is so much more to the subconscious than that.
The subconscious is really a mystery. Yet, in recent years more and more is revealed about it. And people started to figure out how to reprogram it for more happiness, success, wealth, health, and so on.
It plays a significant role in creating your life experience as most beliefs and thought patterns are subconscious and it’s exactly those beliefs that influence your life to a great extent.
“Where does a thought go when it’s forgotten?” – Sigmund Freud
How Can I Control My Subconscious Mind?
You can’t control your subconscious mind. What you can do is work with it, or program it.
And the first step to do this is to understand how the subconscious works. Read about effective ways to reprogram your subconscious mind in this article.
But first, you should know the following secrets about it.
Some of the things might seem hard to understand in the beginning. But if you reflect on it you will get a deeper understanding.
And the better you understand how the subconscious works the better you’ll be at reprogramming it.
Understanding and programming the subconscious mind is one of the most powerful tools for transforming your life.
8 Secrets of The Subconscious Mind
1. The Subconscious Mind is Primal
Consider this.
Your conscious mind is the highly educated part. It went to prep school and perhaps even got a college degree.
The subconscious mind, on the other hand, is still roaming in the jungles, swinging from branch to branch.
It doesn’t care about logic and reason. Rather it communicates in metaphors, images, feelings, and through your intuition.
So don’t even try to have a discussion with your subconscious. Instead, be aware of how it communicates with your conscious mind.
2. The Subconscious Mind Takes Everything Literally
I’m sure you know the following situation.
You push a glass over and pour water over your notes, which makes you say to yourself. “I’m so stupid!”
And in most cases, you would consider this an unimportant offhanded comment. However, the subconscious mind takes everything literally.
So, if you tell yourself “I’m stupid!” your subconscious will not know that you didn’t mean it literally. It’s subjective and doesn’t think or reason for itself.
The subconscious mind obeys the commands it receives from your conscious mind.
Hence, if you keep telling yourself that you’ll never have success it’s likely to happen that way.
3. The Subconscious Mind is Always Awake
Your subconscious mind never sleeps because it takes care of the vital processes and functions of the body.
When you go to sleep your conscious mind does the same (except when you are lucid dreaming). Your subconscious, on the other hand, is fully awake. This means that we can hear and process things even when we’re asleep.
More so, have you ever observed your dreams?
Sometimes they are realistic. Other times they appear like a fairy tale.
It seems like the subconscious mind expresses itself through dreams. But, again, it doesn’t follow any logic, reason, or timeline. It kind of does what it wants.
Honestly, no one knows for sure what dreams are and how they’re generated. But psychiatrists interested in dreams, among those the most famous ones Freud und Jung, believed that dreams are the stage for the unconscious and subconscious.
4. The Subconscious Mind Controls Most of Your Life
The subconscious stores your beliefs, long-term memories, behaviors, and experiences.
These among others form your experience of life. Hence, the subconscious mind controls almost every voluntary and involuntary move you make.
Neuroscience shows that most of our decisions, behaviors, actions, and emotions depend on the 95% of brain activity that is subconscious.
This means that 95-99% of your life is the result of subconscious programming.
5. The Subconscious Mind Reproduces Habitual Thinking and Visual Imagery
The subconscious mind expresses onto the outer world what you accept as “it is done.”
What are you imagining each day? What is your inner dialogue like?
These are questions you should ask yourself. Then you will understand how your habitual thinking and visual imagery relates to your experience of life.
What does this mean in practice?
It means that you can experience your desired future through thinking and visualization. And if you can get into the state of feeling like your desired future is the present (= “it is done”), then the subconscious mind will create this experience in the external world.
You might experience something in the outside world that you think is not in alignment with your desired future. But be aware that this is just your interpretation.
Instead, you can interpret it as contributing to your desired outcome.
If you find yourself in an unwanted situation, affirm that everything you experience is part of the journey to your desired outcome.
“As you sow in your subconscious mind, so shall you reap in your body and environment.” – Joseph Murphy, The Power of Your Subconscious Mind
6. The Subconscious Mind is Based in The Present
For the conscious mind, the past and the future create a context. And many of us find ourselves dwelling in those rather than the present.
The subconscious however is constantly in the present moment. That’s why it’s important to state your positive affirmations in the present tense.
For example, tell yourself “I am successful.” rather than “I will be successful.”
So, be mindful of your thoughts and talk to yourself in the present tense.
Another way to see that past and future don’t influence the subconscious mind is, once again, in dreams. Your dreams are sometimes a mix of past, future, and imagined events all mashed together in an experience in the present.
7. The Subconscious Mind Externalizes The Answers You Seek
Think about any question you would like to have answered. Or perhaps you are not certain about a decision.
Now that you are sure about your questions, let your subconscious mind provide you with the answer.
All you have to do now is to be attentive.
The answers to your questions are found within. But often those same answers are expressed in the external world. This can happen through people, information, circumstances, and the environment.
For instance, prior to consuming any information ask for the answer to your question within. What you find is that often the information is the answer you are looking for.
And the more you do this the more you will know how every information is revealing the answers you are seeking.
But be aware that the answers sometimes do not deliver themselves the way you expect them to.
8. The Subconscious Mind is a Bridge
The subconscious mind serves as a bridge between the conscious and superconscious mind. The superconscious is the infinite realm where all the creative power comes from.
The superconscious mind really is unknown and mysterious. It’s the state we can reach through meditation for example. The superconscious state is characterized by peace, calmness, divine love, bliss, and joy.
The superconscious mind is what guides us in our journey through life. It’s the hidden spiritual system behind intuition, creativity, and spontaneous healing. It’s also the space where our desires come from.
You can see the superconscious as the realm of infinite possibilities, and the subconscious mind is the bridge from that place to the conscious mind. Whereas the conscious mind makes conscious decisions and “guards” the subconscious.
I know this all sounds a little bit confusing so let me explain it in a simple metaphor.
The conscious is the architect that decides what the building should look like. It passes the blueprint on to the engineer, the subconscious, who figures out all the details and how to build it. And the last step is the construction company, the superconscious mind, who creates the building.
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When you internalize these facts about the subconscious you will more and more understand how it creates your experience of life. And then you will be able to direct it instead of just being at the mercy of it.
Luka
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Thank ❤ you for giving me a valuable knowledge and I expect you will seek life hacks and spirit positive thing in world thank a million take care focus your aim not other people
Thank you Luka for clarifying many things about sub-conscious and its relation with conscious and superconscious. I am thinking how to explain the monkey mind constantly jumping between past and future?
You’re most welcome, Mitaky! Well, the thing about thoughts is that they’re always self-referential. So, thoughts are always only about other thoughts and most of our thoughts are about ourselves. And what we usually consider to be ourselves is nothing but a story going on in our heads. So, thoughts are trying to keep a story alive and the only way a story can be kept alive is if it’s being pampered by repeating it mentally (past) and projecting it forward (future). Thoughts are almost like a defense mechanism for discovering the truth of you. You don’t need thoughts when… Read more »
i agree with you
the superconscious mind, who creates the building.